Improvement in saddle-trees



H. C. & J. R. STILL. SADDLE-TREES.

No. 195,415. Patented Sept.18,1877.

UNITED STATES PATENT QEEIGE.

HENRY G. STILL AND JOSEPH R. STILL, OF AUSTIN, TEXAS.

IMPROVEMENT in SADDLE-TREES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 195,416, dated September 18, 1877; application filed August 20, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY O. STILL and J OSEPH R. STILL, of Austin, in the county of Travis and State of Texas, have invented a new and Improved Saddle-Tree Fork; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of the saddle-tree fork with pommel in section; Fig. 2, an end view.

Our invention relates to an improvement in riding-saddles, designed to secure greater strength in the pommel and fork; and it consists in forming the fork of the saddle-tree and the pommel from malleable cast-iron, and in one and the same piece, the neck of the pommel being cast hollow for greater lightness, with the upper end of the casting open, which opening is closed by a surmounting cap of wood or other material, which finishes the pommel, as hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings, A represents the saddletree fork, which, together with the pommel B and the extensions 0 O, is formed lightly of malleable cast-iron, the whole being cast in one piece. The extensions 0 are duplicated and arranged some distance apart for greater strength of attachment, and are provided with holes a, through which nails are driven or screws inserted to secure the fork to the saddle-tree. In casting the pommel with the fork the neck portion of the pommel is left hollow, and its upper opened end is flared outwardly, and upon this flared edge is located a cap-piece, D, made of any suitable material, which cappiece completes the pommel, and at the same time closes the upper end of the casting.

We are aware that it is not new to form the pommel and fork of a riding-saddle in one and the same piece, and do not claim this broadly. By forming the pommel from malleable iron, however, and in one and the same piece with the fork, we secure about three times the strength of the wooden pommel and fork, while, by casting the pommel hollow and with an open upper end, we preserve an equal degree of lightness, the pominel being afterward surmounted and completed by the separate cap-piece D.

From this description it will be seen that our invention provides a cheaper and more durable construction of saddle, and one that is admirably adapted to the strains of the lasso in lassoing or roping wild cattle.

After the fork is applied to the tree in the construction of the saddle the space between the extensions C is filled up with wood flush to the outer surface of the metal, and the whole is then covered with rawhide.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new is- The pommel B, cast with a hollow neck and opened end, and formed in one piece with the fork A from malleable cast-iron, in combination with the separately-attached cap D, substantially as and for the purpose described.

HENRY 0. STILL. JOSEPH R. STILL. Witnesses:

A. P. WOOLDRIDG-E, I. W. ROBERTSON. 

